Four months ago I got a note from a former student of mine whom I hadn't seen in twenty years. I got to be Sherene's Drama teacher when she was in 6th and 7th grades, back in the early 90's. Since last I saw her, this beautiful young woman has continued the dance education she was already passionate about when we first met, including two years of top notch training in St. Petersburg at the Kirov.
Sherene Melania is Founder and Artistic Director of the Presidio Dance Theatre in San Francisco. When I went up to visit her, I found her at the beautiful converted Presidio Library, now a spacious ballet studio where the Dance Theatre makes its home. It was just marvelous to get caught up. She was glowing with memories of those magical classes and plays we did together when she was a child. I was particularly gratified to hear how, in addition to continuing her stellar dance career, she is dedicated to the work of giving disadvantaged students and underserved neighborhoods of SF a chance to take ballet classes at little or no cost.
And then she made her pitch. After years of writing grant applications and holding benefits, her company is finally in a position to create and mount an original full-length ballet and she wanted my help! I was nodding and smiling almost before she could lay out her ideas for how we might work together again.
I've been helping with the libretto and dramaturgy for the storytelling voiceover that accompanies the original music. Because Sherene loves her Uncle Bear's voice, I will also be recording the voiceover together with a young actor/dancer who is playing the niece of the storyteller.
Wonderfully fun is that I also get to teach classes in performance and character creation to her young students! Most of the time, working with 8- to 16-year-olds and dramatic expression, my job is to help the young ones focus their play energy and work together. I'm finding that in my classes for these gifted young dancers who've already dedicated years to this discipline, I'm doing almost the opposite. Their focus is sublime. But when I ask them to make some nutty sounds, they at first giggle and hold back. Dancers don't vocalize, Uncle Bear! The last time I went up to the Presidio to teach, it was gorgeous weather in the City and I taught outdoors on the grass under sunny skies. A sight to behold!
Once we start tech rehearsals at the Palace of Fine Arts, Sherene (who is not only choreographing the whole shebang but also dancing the lead!) will need a trusted theater person out in the House acting as her eyes and ears and getting things coordinated between the lights and audio and transitions from scene to scene. Ready!
And to top off this confection, I'll be playing the role of the King, a non-dancing part. All the dancers and actors will be costumed in original pieces just created by the amazing designers from the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg! Ain't we got fun!?!
Five weeks from tomorrow, on June 6, 2014, THE LITTLE LANTERN will premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. A second performance is on June 21 when the Assyrian Aid Society presents its annual Mesopotamian Night at the beautiful California Theatre in San Jose. Looking forward to all the flurry of activity, everyone working as a team. I am so proud of Sherene for taking on such a grand project!
Here follows a summary of this lovely story, written by the beloved Ghassan Kanafani:
The Little Lantern is a story about a king who dies, leaving his only daughter and heiress to the throne. He leaves his will with the wise man in the castle, which instructs his daughter that in order to become the queen of the kingdom, she has to bring the sun into the castle before the candle melts. The princess, being young, thought that she would be able to catch the sun and carry it on her back to the castle. She tries many ways, but to no avail. She later locks herself in her room, and on the eighth day, finds a note under her door, saying that by locking herself in, she will never find a solution. Find out how this young princess "brings the sun into the castle".